The Edit: White Collar Workers

Famously championed by Gordon Gekko in Wall Street and Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, contrast collar shirts were once associated with the confident powerbrokers of the 1980s, typically worn with braces and pinstripe suits. Although the style still goes hand in hand with formal business dressing, this time around the look can be worn more subtly and so is no longer the sole preserve of financiers and business moguls. The origins of contrast collars and cuffs, in fact, lie in functionality rather than excess. The idea was that the cuffs and collar of a shirt could be replaced more easily, prolonging its wearable life, if they were white rather than if they matched the body of the shirt. Finding exactly the same coloured or patterned fabric again could prove difficult, whereas plain collars and cuffs were readily available. These days we like the style because of its clean look and the crisp visual contrast that it adds to an outfit.